With the advent of Universal Product Code (UPC) symbols, barcode scanners, and automated self-service checkouts, many stores such as grocery and discount stores have stopped putting clearly visible pricing information on each product. This allows such stores to save time while stocking shelves and ringing out customers while allowing for instantaneous price adjustments for sales and the like.
While this technology has saved the stores time and money, it has placed the consumer at a disadvantage. Even if the product is displayed at the proper location within the store, the consumer is not sure of the correct price or sale price. Additionally, when checking out, the purchaser must remove all of the items from the cart, have each item scanned by a store employee or him or herself, and then place the items back in the cart. This not only takes a significant amount of time, but checkout registers also occupy valuable store floor space that could be used to hold additional stock for purchase and thereby increase store revenues.
Additionally, many people have a budget to stick to when purchasing certain products. As a result, this may necessitate having to remove certain items from the cart at the checkout when the prices are not accurately known when originally placed into the cart, not only wasting time of the cashier, but increasing aggravation for those waiting in line. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which a shopper can be provided with a trouble free checkout experience that addresses the issues described above. The development of the present device fulfills this need.